jessica, first, to you, the president's back in washington, wheels down. he left his christmas vacation early. but was this just a bit of showmanship, or has he been working on something specific? >> reporter: hey, john. well, today has been a bit of a quiet day here at the white house. publicly, the president has been scarce, no sign of him. behind closed doors, i'm told a few meetings internally, but mostly, relatively quiet. i expect we will see more from the president, perhaps we could even see him publicly tomorrow. perhaps he could even meet with or talk to some of the congressional leaders. the president's role in all of this, he can get each of the leaders to come closer on what the white house believes is already, pretty clearly, the framework for a final deal, and he can also go out and lobby the american people to pressure congress to get something done. again, the democrats are insistent that they have been clear on the outlines of what a deal would look like, to raise taxes on those earning $250,000 and more, and keep them where they are for e